by
SheWolf » Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:33 am
This seems to be a common theme when dealing with agency careworkers or staff supplied through SS - that it's all a bit hit and miss on the timekeeping front and often you don't get the number of calls/time that you have paid for/been promised.
I currently have two ladies which we've made private arrangements with, so that my parents get a visit each morning and late afternoon to attend to their meals. At the moment we just about have things covered, but I'd quite like more cover if I could find a reliable person. Trouble is, one of our carers is actually a pensioner herself, just working to supplement her pension, so doesn't want more hours. The other lady is very personable but has been a bit unreliable re timekeeping, and has also started calling in sick now and then, so I'm not inclined to give her more hours. If I went down the agency route I suspect we'd get one stranger after another, which Dad would not respond well to as he has dementia and almost zero memory these days. So, when I have to I just step in, hoping things won't go pear shaped, thinking the agency route may cause more stress than it solves.
As for social services, I guess there must be some cases when they're useful, but often on these boards the stories seem to be mostly of bad service and clueless people, just ticking boxes on forms and muttering standard phrases, but often not giving the right kind of help. A real shame for anyone who has to rely on them.
